Like two childhood friends, John Adam and the City of Phoenix grew up together.  The Kowalski Family moved to Arizona in 1967 when John was only 8 years old. 

He attended Peoria High School where he was involved in cross country, the American Legion Arizona Boys State, and Model UN.  Upon graduating in 1977, he enlisted in the US Navy. After completing boot camp in San Diego, Calif., he was transferred to Pensacola, Fla. After extensive investigation he was granted a Top Secret security clearance to study cryptology and learn high speed Morse code communications. Seeing exceptional leadership capability, his superior officers nominated him to the Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection and Training program which led ultimately to the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) preparatory program. Upon completion, John accepted an NROTC academic scholarship to Northwestern University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications. John was elected President of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity and served on the Inter-fraternity Council and the Associated Student Government. 

Upon graduation, he worked as an Institutional Asset Financial Reporting Analyst for the Harris Trust in Chicago. His clients included Hewlett Packard, the Illinois Teachers’ Pension Fund, Walgreens and Delta Airlines, with trust accounts having a total market value of between $3 Billion to $5 Billion.  While working for Harris Trust, he attended the JL Kellogg Graduate School of Management to work on his MBA. 

John left Chicago in 1985 and returned to Phoenix to work at the family business, Kowalski Construction, Inc. He started as the Financial Controller; as the company grew, he was promoted to General Manager.  When his father retired from the business, John became President & CEO. During his 17 years managing the company, Kowalski Construction, Inc. grew to become one of the largest insurance restoration contracting firms in the Southwest, performing more than 1,000 construction projects per year. With offices in Phoenix and Tucson, the company employed more than 100 professionals. 

During this time, John was also a co-owner of SWATware LLC, and appointed Co-Executive Director & Managing Partner. He developed SWATtrac © a restoration industry specific software program that was regarded as the best task management and project control software in the industry. 

After September 11, 2001, John sold his shares in the family business to his two brothers who continue growing the business today and preparing it for transfer to third generation.

Given the significant growth of the construction company, John was recognized nationally in this industry and started his own consulting practice under the name, Pivot Productions, Inc. As a business consultant and executive coach, John worked with approximately 200 restoration contactors and remodeling companies and shared his experience to help them grow and create jobs. John still maintains a group of clients today to stay close to the issues and concerns of small business, and enjoy the relationships with these entrepreneurs who have become his friends. 

John has been told his entire life that he has a voice for radio, so in 2006 he decided to share his knowledge and expertise with a larger audience and started The John Adam Show on 1310 KXAM in Scottsdale. The weekly two hour talk radio show for small business quickly became popular in the business community and John developed relationships with the leaders of numerous business support and networking organizations to grow his audience. The John Adam Show moved to 1510 KFNN in 2008 and became so popular that even though it has discontinued regular weekly broadcasts in favor of monthly specialty shows, more than 1,400 people have since requested to be a guest on the program.

Because of John’s reputation in the business community, he was asked to join several business organizations and quickly assumed leadership positions. John is currently the Chairman of the Board and President of the Arizona Small Business Association (ASBA), which is Arizona’s second largest trade association.  He also serves on the Board of Directors and as Vice President of Enterprise Network, and as an Ambassador and Media Personality for Greater Phoenix SCORE. 

He serves as Master of Ceremonies for numerous award ceremonies and charitable fundraising events such as the 40,000 participant Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure which raises more than $2 Million annually to fight breast cancer, and the Junior Achievement Stock Market Challenge to raise money to sponsor young people to learn the value of free enterprise and understand business and economics to improve the quality of their lives. Additional community involvement includes serving on the Board of Directors, and member-at-large on the Executive Committee, for Phoenix Theatre which is Arizona’s oldest arts institution.

In his various leadership roles in the community, John interacts with political leaders at many levels to advance the interests of small business. He now sees an opportunity to make a greater difference and has decided to enter the race for the State of Arizona House of Representatives in Legislative District 6.  John is a true champion for free enterprise and inspires entrepreneurs across Arizona.